Monday, June 09, 2014

John Kerry talks (hollow) tough, Michael Wolff brings the bitchy

Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day.

So I'm bleary-eyed and turning on CNN where I see John Kerry talking about the Taliban and saying the one of the five released Taliban commanders saying he would attack America (Kat posted about this on the weekend). Kerry righteously dismisses it as "propaganda."

And my reaction is sort of, "Takes one to know one."

Does John Kerry not get how ill mannered and thuggish he's become since being sworn in as Secretary of State?

He runs around saying this person needs to "man up" or threatening this country orwhatever.

The nadir of television gravitas may be Ronan Farrow on MSNBC. He's a
third-rate movie plot: The child anchor, self-serious and mimicking the
adults, finding himself, through happenstance and cynical television
logic, embarrassingly on the air.

I don't like Ronan Farrow and wish MSNBC would cancel his lousy show.

But is Wolff's paragraph a critique or just a poorly written attempt at bitchy?

I'd say the latter. And also note that the column ends up being about everything but Ronan Farrow. Ronan's just troll bait to get the article read, if you ask me.

Monday, June 9, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri expands his
assault on Sunnis to Nineveh Province, the Moqtada al-Sadr movement
does not want a third term for Nouri, in the US the VA releases the
results of an audit, and much more.

Women’s
Rights Groups Demand that U.S. Stop Negotiating TPP with Brunei Until
the Sultan Revokes New Taliban-Like Laws

WASHINGTON
– A coalition of women’s rights groups have joined the Feminist
Majority Foundation (FMF) in calling for the Obama Administration to
initiate the process of removing Brunei from negotiations on a
prospective Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement with the United
States – or to suspend TPP talks – until Brunei revokes its new
Taliban-like penal code.

“Women’s
rights and human rights cannot take a backseat to profit and trade,”
said FMF President Eleanor Smeal. “As a global leader, the United States
should not negotiate a free trade agreement with a country that has
enacted laws hostile to basic human rights and dignity.”

Twelve
women’s rights organizations – including FMF, American Association of
University Women, the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues, the Institute for
Science and Human Values, Jewish Women International, National Center
for Lesbian Rights, National Council of Jewish Women, the National
Organization for Women, the Women’s Global Program of the Communications
Consortium Media Center, Women’s Online Media and Education Network,
and the U.S. National Committee for UN Women – delivered a letter to the
White House expressing outrage over Brunei’s new penal code and asking
the Administration stop negotiating the TPP with Brunei.

The
Trans-Pacific Partnership is a proposed regional free trade agreement
being negotiated between the U.S. and Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The
TPP addresses a broad range of issues, including trade in goods and
services; regulation of intellectual property and foreign investments;
as well as labor and environmental rules, among other topics. TPP
negotiations have been ongoing since 2010, with very little information
about the negotiated documents released to Congress or to the public.

“The
U.S. must insist that Brunei address human rights concerns by revoking
its penal code before the U.S. continues negotiations with Brunei on the
TPP,” continued Smeal. “There is simply no place in a civilized society
for kill-a-gay and flog-a-woman penal codes. Our foreign policy should
make that clear, especially in the execution of our trade agreements.”

The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights has
expressed deep concern about Brunei’s new penal code and stated that its
draconian punishments would violate international law. The new penal
code, which went into effect on May 1, is set to be implemented in three
phases. The first phase includes fines and prison sentences for such
“crimes” as becoming pregnant outside of marriage. The second phase
includes corporal punishment, such as amputations and flogging of women
who have abortions. The third phase includes the stoning to death of gay
men and lesbians and those convicted of adultery.

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO),
a Washington-based nonprofit that pushes for “good government reforms,”
will fight a May 30 subpoena from the inspector general of
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) seeking the results of its
research into mismanagement at the department. “We never have” complied
with such a subpoena, says POGO communications director Joe Newman, who
says the group has now dealt with seven demands from federal agencies
for records since the early 1990s. “And we have no plans to do that.”

POGO, which has a 33-year history of working with whistleblowers to
expose government fraud, waste and abuse, wrote the IG today and refused
to provide the records, most of which have come from confidential tips
submitted through VAOversight.org.POGO and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) launched
VAOversight.org on May 15 to offer potential whistleblowers a safe
channel to confidentially report abuses in the VA healthcare system,
which have been the focus of intense media scrutiny and congressional
hearings in recent weeks.Since the website went live, about 700 people have submitted tips or
aired grievances. About 25 percent of those tips have come from current
or former VA staffers. POGO is reviewing the information it has received
and is looking into many of the claims.In a letter sent to the IG this morning, POGO said the IG’s subpoena
infringes on POGO’s constitutional “freedom of speech, freedom of press,
and freedom of association rights as they relate to all whistleblowers
and sources.”Some VA employees who contacted POGO and requested confidentiality
said they feared retaliation if their names were divulged. Any of them
could have reported their concerns to the VA inspector general. In fact,
some of the employees told POGO that they had filed reports with the
IG. Some people expressed a lack of confidence in the Office of the
Inspector General.“The Inspector General’s demand stands opposed to POGO’s mission and
to good government reform—both of which serve the public interest,” POGO
Executive Director Danielle Brian said. “Our focus is squarely on
investigating the problems in the VA healthcare system and trying to
find some solutions.“Our mission as a public interest watchdog would be severely damaged
if we violated the trust of our sources. We have faced these kinds of
threats before and have never wavered. We will not violate the trust
whistleblowers have placed in us by revealing their identities to
anyone.”POGO’s letter to the VA IG.

Staying with the topic of veterans, it started as rumors and became much
more with whistle-blowers coming forward and CNN reporting. Yes, we're
talking about the VA scandal where veterans were kept waiting for weeks
and months despite the claims that all veterans were receiving medical
appointments within 14 days of requesting them. Today the Veterans Affairs Department released the Nationwide Access Aduit results.
Among the findings? "Meeting a 14-day wait-time performance target for
new appointments was simply not attainable given the ongoing challenge
of finding sufficient provider slots to accommodate a growing demand for
services. Imposing this expectation on the field before ascertaining
the resources required and its ensuing broad promulgation represent an
organizational leadership failure."

We'll note this from the report and italicized emphasis is from the authors of the report, not me:Findings indicate that in some cases, pressures were placed on
schedulers to utilize inappropriate practices in order to make waiting
times (based on desired date, and the waiting lists), appear more
favorable. Such practices are sufficiently pervasive to require VA
re-examine its entire performance management system and, in particular, whether current measures and targets for access are realistic or sufficient.

How many sites were cooking the books?

The report notes:Respondents at 90 clinic sites provided responses indicating they had
altered desired dates that had been entered. In virtually all cases,
they indicated they were instructed by supervisors, but many believed
the policy of altering dates was coming from facility leadership. In at
least 2 clinics, respondents believed someone else (not a scheduler)
was routinely accessing records and changing desired dates in order to
improve performance measures.

Establishing New Patient Satisfaction Measurement Program- Acting
Secretary Gibson has directed VHA to immediately begin developing a new
patient satisfaction measurement program to provide real-time, robust,
location-by-location information on patient satisfaction, to include
satisfaction data of those Veterans attempting to access VA healthcare
for the first time. This program will be developed with input from
Veterans Service Organizations, outside health care organizations, and
other entities. This will ensure VA collects an additional set of data –
directly from the Veteran’s perspective – to understand how VA is doing
throughout the system.

Increasing Transparency by Posting Data Twice-Monthly- At
the direction of the Acting Secretary, VHA will post regular updates to
the access data released today at the middle and end of each month at
VA.gov. Twice-monthly data updates will enhance transparency and provide
the most immediate information to Veterans and the public on Veterans
access to quality healthcare.

Initiating an Independent, External Audit of Scheduling Practices-
Acting Secretary Gibson has also directed that an independent, external
audit of system-wide VHA scheduling practices be performed.

Sending Additional Frontline Team to Address Phoenix- Following
his trip to Phoenix VA Medical Center last week, Acting Secretary
Gibson directed a VHA frontline team to travel to Phoenix to immediately
address scheduling, access, and resource requirements needed to provide
Veterans the timely, quality healthcare they deserve.

Utilizing High Performing Facilities to Help Those That Need Improvement-
VA will formalize a process in which high performing facilities provide
direct assistance and share best practices with facilities that require
improvement on particular medical center quality and efficiency, also
known as SAIL, performance measures.

Applying Immediate Access Reforms Announced in Phoenix to Most Challenged VA Facilities-
Last week, Acting Secretary Gibson announced a series of measures to
address healthcare access problems in Phoenix. Today, Acting Secretary
Gibson announced he’ll apply the same reforms to facilities with the
most access problems from the results of the audit, including:

Employing New Staffing Measures- VA’s first goal is
to get Veterans off wait lists and into clinics. VA is using temporary
staffing measures, along with clinical and administrative support, to
ensure these Veterans receive the care they have earned through their
service.

Providing More Care by Modifying Local Contract Operations-
VA will modify local contract operations to be able to offer more
community-based care to Veterans waiting to be seen by a doctor.

Removing Senior Leadership- Where appropriate, VA
will initiate the process of removing senior leaders. Acting Secretary
Gibson is committed to using all authority at VA’s disposal to enforce
accountability among senior leaders.

Future Travel Over the course of the next several weeks-
Acting Secretary Gibson will travel to a series of VA facilities across
the country. He will hear directly from Veterans and employees about
obstacles to providing timely, quality care and how VA can immediately
address them.

Audit details how vets across the country wait almost three months for appointments at VA Hospitals

Washington DC (June 9, 2014) – According to a new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) audit
released today, more than 57,000 patients across the country have been
waiting almost three months for appointments at VA hospitals and
clinics. The audit was released ahead of IAVA CEO and Founder Paul
Rieckhoff’s meeting with other leading veterans groups and Acting VA
Secretary Sloan Gibson at the VA.“This
audit is absolutely infuriating, and underscores the depth of this
scandal,” said Rieckhoff. “Our vets demand action and answers. IAVA
again calls on the President to be out-front in reforming the VA and we
also encourage members of Congress and the Administration to implement
IAVA’s eight-step plan. We would welcome a meeting with the President –
the veteran community must hear more from him and be assured that he
cares. I look forward to hearing answers from Acting VA Secretary Sloan
Gibson this afternoon.”The audit found that: •Practices
of manipulating wait times were so pervasive, the audit recommended a
complete overhaul of VHA's performance management system. •13 percent of schedulers - and 76 percent of facilities - reported some improper scheduling practices. •8 percent of schedulers - and 70 percent of facilities - used an alternative to the appropriate waiting lists. Last Monday Rieckhoff, joined by IAVA veterans from across the country, unveiled eight steps
the Obama Administration and Congress can take now to restore
confidence in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Among the steps are
recommendations from IAVA’s 2014 Policy Agenda. IAVA urged Congress and the President to enact all of the recommendations from the plan.NOTE TO THE MEDIA: IAVA leadership is available for interview. Press can email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699.Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org)
is the nation's first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
representing veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 270,000
Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Celebrating its 10th
year anniversary, IAVA recently received the highest rating -
four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity
evaluator.

Mosul is in Nineveh Province -- so now he's targeting both Anbar and
Nineveh. What do they have in common? Unlike the Shi'ite Nouri
al-Maliki, the people in those two provinces are predominantly Sunni.

The PUK is the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan which is headed by Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani. The PUK's standing in the Kurdistan Region is
iffy. For years, the PUK and KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) were
the two dominant political parties. Then, last fall, provincial
elections resulted in a major upset -- Gorran beat out the PUK.

In the April 30th elections, the PUK managed to do better. This was in
part due to a video of Jalal Talabani released at the time of the
election.

December 2012, Jalal suffered a stroke. The incident took place late on December
17, 2012 following Jalal's argument with Iraq's prime minister and chief thug Nouri al-Maliki (see the December 18, 2012 snapshot). Jalal was admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital. Thursday, December 20, 2012,
he was moved to Germany. He remains in Germany currently.

The video had impact because, although photos of Jalal from his right
side had been published, there had been no video of him since he was
taken to Germany.

No accomplishments and increased violence mark Nouri's second term, yet he thinks he deserves a third. Daily Sabah reported yesterday:The parliamentary bloc of Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr said
Sunday that it would join the opposition if Nouri al-Maliki assumed a
third term as prime minister of Iraq."Al-Maliki's two previous terms tell us that he will not succeed in a
third," Diaa al-Asadi, the secretary-general of al-Sadr's Ahrar bloc,
told Anadolu Agency.He said al-Sadr's bloc does not have a personal problem with al-Maliki
but with his monopoly over independent agencies affiliated to the Iraqi
parliament.

NINA adds:Leader of the National Coalition Ayad Allawi said on Monday that if
al-Maliki gained the power, we are heading to the opposition front to
stand up to the political process peacefully.Allawi who won 22
seats in the last elections warned, in a press statement "of great risk
to the political process, its maximum will be the fragmentation of Iraq,
and the least of which is the continuation of violence and confusion
and chaos in the case of al-Maliki got third term.He continued
that their line is clear, in the event of the arrival of al-Maliki to
power again, they are heading to the opposition front to stand up to the
political process peacefully, and they consider that this political
process has fallen and a new political process should emerge.

Nouri's State of Law did not secure enough seats for the majority
government Nouri announced he was seeking ahead of the elections (that
was one of the big setbacks for Nouri in the April 30th elections). He
must now count on the White House to again save him from failure by
securing another term for him as prime minister or he must make nice
with other political blocs to cobble together enough support to form a
government. But cobbling may prove difficult since he's alienated so
many. We'll close with this Tweet:

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About Me

I'm Michael, Mike to my friends. College student working his way through. I'm also Irish-American and The New York Times can kiss my Irish ass. And check out Trina's Kitchen on my links, that's my mother's site.